Stay Close to Shore
by astonmartin177
Summary: Annie Cresta is the marine science PhD student struggling to make ends meet. Finnick Odair is the movie star who wants for nothing. When they are thrown together for an ocean set romantic blockbuster, dark secrets will rise from the underworld and under the water. Don't get too deep, the safest place to stay is close to shore... Modern day AU, eventual Odesta!
1. At least my martini is dry

**AN: Hello everyone! This is my very first fanfic! I'm really excited about the characters and the plot. I've got a few chapters drafted so I'm hoping to be uploading soon. This fanfic will be a modern day AU with a bit of comedy, action, suspense and the eventual romance between Annie and Finnick. Please review, I'd love to know what you think! Any advice is helpful! **

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"You're dripping half the ocean in my office," the man observed sarcastically from over his glasses, setting down the newspaper on the desk.

"You can't be serious!" Before him stood a very wet, very angry, Annie Cresta. Her long, dark curly hair was plastered to her head and her wetsuit clung to her body. She angrily dumped her bucket of fish onto the floor, the loud CLANG reverberating through the tiny office.

"The sea turtle rescue grant was cut?! Don't those damn politicians know that if this reef dies so do millions of dollars in tourism?" As she spoke, she stalked around the room, raising her voice and shaking her hands. Water droplets flicked onto the desk, and the man delicately moved some paper work out of harm's way. Professor Haymitch Abernathy was used to the rants about the evils of business and politics of his young post-graduate student.

Annie was a good kid. Young and full of ideals.

For Annie, the world could be saved, one marine animal at a time and the politicians just need to hand the money over for the medical supplies. Good was good and bad was bad. She still had the love of science, of discovery; that passion for wildlife and conservation that so many of the fresh, naïve kids going through the Panem City Marine Research Institute used to have. Until most of it had been shut down. Science wasn't a high priority when your country was in economic crisis.

Annie's passionate spiel was drawing to end and Haymitch interrupting him from his reverie. He should probably start listening again. "We've barely got enough to cover the software costs, let alone the CT and transport," Annie sounded defeated. She slumped into the chair in front of his desk and put her face into her hands. "I need to find a new project, Haymitch." She looked like she was about to burst into tears.

"There now, Annie," Haymitch sounded alarmed. As a research supervisor, these wouldn't be the first tears shed in his office by a young student, but that didn't stop him from feeling awkward whenever a new one started blubbering. Besides, there was enough damn water on the carpet as it was. "There's plenty of funding from the pearl industry in shell genetics if that takes your fancy?"

Annie shook her head and buried her face deeper into her hands.

"Well truth be told, I didn't think that would suit you much. I've just had a very interesting phone call though, from one Miss Effie Trinket."

Annie raised her head half-heartedly, fat unshed tears still swimming in her eyes. He pushed today's newspaper across the desk to her.

"FINNICK ODAIR SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER TO BE FILMED AT CAPITOL RESORT" was emblazoned across the front page of the local newspaper. The Capitol Resort was the flagship of a flashy hotel chain for the people of Panem who had, as Annie put it, "more cents than sense". It was only about a twenty minute drive from the main institute and was set right on the beach.

"I'm sure the local teenage girls are overjoyed. How does this help us?" Annie asked mournfully. A single tear rolled down her cheek and melded with the puddle of sea water she had formed on Haymitch's floor. _Oops_.

Haymitch smiled wryly, "They need a local expert on diving and wildlife for the film crew. I took the liberty of explaining to Miss Trinket on the phone that we happen to have an expert diving instructor right here at the institute who just so happens to be an exceptional underwater photographer and knows the marine life better than anyone. She said she was well aware, and personally requested you by name for the job." He paused. Annie's eyebrows shot up into her hair line, her depression forgotten in her surprise.

"Me? What for? Haymitch, you know I'm really busy with that shark study right now and-"

"-They're going to heavily publicise the institute and our work. You know we need it, Annie." He interrupted firmly.

Annie sighed, "Yes, we do need publicity."

It was true, public support drew donations and pressure on policy makers for more emphasis on the environment and science in the budget.

"And they're going to pay." Haymitch wheedled.

Annie wrinkled her nose. She had worked as a diving instructor and marine tour guide for rich Capitol Resort tourists before. It was definitely not an experience she relished. They treated her like she was dirt and expected her to magically make them expert divers. One time a woman had threatened to sue her because Annie had told her she couldn't dive while wearing her enormous green wig.

Still, it paid the rent on her tiny shack.

Or used to, until she lost her job for yelling at a man for using flash photography on newly hatched baby turtles.

"Haymitch, you know I'm not good with these people," Annie sighed. "Whatever amount they promised you, it's not worth it for me."

"It's enough to fund your research, and have money left over." Haymitch said casually, pretending not to notice the way Annie's ears pricked up. "For about… ten years."

Annie's mouth dropped open. _Ten years_? Enough time to complete her PhD, and post-doc? And have money left over? Were these people crazy? _More cents than sense indeed_!

"We're having dinner with her in a few weeks to arrange the details and you can meet the crew. I'll let her know you'll be there." Haymitch smiled.

Annie was still in shock sitting in the chair. She finally found the strength to close her mouth and nod. She could easily put up with a few snobby rich people for a few weeks for ten years of saving animals.

"Now run along, before you make my office permanently stink of fish," Haymitch drawled, and returned to his newspaper.

With a smile, Annie sprang from the chair, grabbed her fish bucket and practically skipped out the door.

Haymitch watched her leave with a sad smile. He stood from his chair, blearily rubbed his eyes and surveyed his office. Textbooks and pieces of paper were crammed into every shelf, nook and cranny you could imagine. He drifted across the tired maroon carpet over to the window which looked out over the sea. Today the sky was an ominous grey, the wind was cold and biting. He felt uneasy, giving Annie to these people. To Annie, the Capitol tourists were just silly rich people, with superficial problems and a general ignorance about the world. Haymitch knew better. He knew they corrupted. They destroyed.

What was he thinking?

He was saving her research.

_Whatever amount they promised you, it's not worth it for me._

He glanced guiltily at the cupboard under his desk. With a sigh, he unlocked the drawer and pulled out a glass.

He needed a drink.


	2. Life through Odair coloured glasses

**Hey everyone, thanks for the reviews/favs/reads so far. This is a shorter chapter but the next one is going to be really long. Hope you enjoy!**

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Finnick stepped onto the tarmac off the plane looking every inch a movie star. He strolled leisurely across the runway, the wind catching his blonde curls and whipping his sports coat around him. He slipped on his Ray Ban aviators and paused to admire his reflection in the dark glass windows of the airport.

He had to admit, he was damn good looking.

"Hurry now, Fin! We've got a schedule to keep!" bubbled the woman to his left. Effie Trinket, public relations manager. She was dressed all in shades of pink, from her business suit to her hair.

Finnick absently wondered if it was a wig.

Before he even walked inside the airport, he could hear the screaming fans. It seemed like every girl within a 50 mile radius had turned up to see him arrive. He stepped inside, leaving his sunglasses on as he sauntered amongst the seething mass of teenage girls, pausing occasionally to autograph while the waiting paparazzi snapped it up.

One female reporter elbowed her way through the crowd to the forefront. She was busty, blonde hair curled over her shoulders and make up done to perfection. Finnick recognised her as one of the leading reporters from a prominent news station. Her name was some sort of fabric, or something.

"Mr Odair, Mr Odair! Cashmere Zampatti, Panem Tonight. Mr Odair, a word please!"

Finnick glanced at Effie who nodded fervently. He turned back to the reporter, took off his glasses, and gave her a charming smile.

"Of course," he purred.

"Mr Odair, you're filming your latest movie here in Capitol City, can you give us any hints as to what it's about?" She thrust her microphone in his face.

"It's such a beautiful place to be filming, it's just perfect," he said. "It's going to be a great movie, plenty of drama, suspense, a bit of action, and of course, romance." He drew out the last word, and winked at the reporter. She blushed and giggled a little.

"And what's your favourite part of Capitol City, Finnick?" she asked, fluttering her long purple eyelashes.

He paused, and gave his best, patented smirk. "Why, the beautiful women of course."

With that he sauntered off towards the waiting limousine with crew in tow, Effie once again squeaking about a schedule and how charming he was.

Apparently he had to get ready for a dinner.


	3. Beauty and the teased

**Hey everyone! Thanks for the reviews, they mean a lot! And thanks to everyone who's fav'd or followed! Mwah!  
**

**This chapter was so long I had to split it into two. Hope you enjoy, next one will be up soon!  
**

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"Shit. Shit, shit, shit!" Annie cursed, hopping about on one foot in the women's locker area of the institute.

She'd been working in the clinical rescue component of the institute, helping a rescued sea lion that had been run over by a boat and time had just gotten away from her.

And now she was late for the dinner with her generous philanthropists. Very late.

She tugged her boot over her foot and fell back onto the bench. She glanced at herself in the mirror: jeans; boots; nice shirt and a jacket. Her hair was a tangled mess of dark brown curls that were still very wet and her delicate tan features didn't have any make up. She looked okay—not up to the tourist's standards, but fine in her book.

Actually, they probably would think she looked like some wild animal that had just sprung up out of the sea.

She chuckled a little at the thought, before she started. Shit! She still had to get to that dinner!

Grabbing her handbag, she sprinted out the door to her beat up little Toyota Corolla.

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When she arrived at the resort, the valet approached her car with a look of utmost disdain on his face.

"May I help you ma'am?" he drawled. "Do you, need directions?" He asked pointedly, his lips pursing in disapproval as he took in her car and attire.

"Nope, thank you!" Annie shouted over her shoulder as she shot past him inside, throwing him the keys and ignoring his sputtered protests.

She raced through the building to the function room, running up the marble staircase, past the austere oil paintings, only pausing just outside to catch her breath.

She_ really_ needed to work out more.

Straightening, she reached into her handbag for that tube of lip gloss, she was _certain_ was in there, buried under the mountain of stuff that just _appears_ in handbags. Locating the elusive tube, she applied it in front of the wall mirror, only to gasp at her hair frizzing out in all directions. She reached into her bag to grab her brush, ferreting through—what even was this crap?!

Damn! She had forgotten it today all of days! With a huff, she began frantically raking her fingers through her unruly curls.

"Did you get electrocuted or something Miss?" drawled a man's voice to her right. Annie stopped mid-swipe and turned around. A very tall, handsome man in his mid-twenties was casually leaning against the wall, smirking at her.

"No, just a great big dose of seawater and humidity," Annie replied as she quickly turned back to the mirror, despairing. Damn! Now her fingers were trapped in some ungodly knot. _I'm shaving this godamn hair off when I get home_, she thought savagely as she struggled to wiggle her fingers out of the knot.

"You shouldn't be so rough, hair needs to be loved. It's like a baby." the man said, with a superior tone of voice.

"Is that so?" Annie muttered distractedly, squinting at the mirror. Why wouldn't this guy leave her alone? "

You're making it worse." He observed, indicating the knots. "Do you even _know_ what a brush is?"

Annie huffed irritably and whirled around to face him, "Now look here, just who do you think you a-Oh!" As she turned she had knocked her bag over, spilling the contents onto the floor. Papers, her institute identification, her keys and whatever else was in her bag were spread across the hallway.

"Ah shit!" she cried, wrenching her fingers free and hastily scrabbling to gather her things.

The man also gathered a few things and was looking over them.

"Annie Cresta, PhD candidate, Panem Institute of Marine Science Research," he read off her card, before handing it back to her.

"So you're a scientist then, wouldn't you like to…" he paused dramatically and gave her a smouldering look, "…study me?"

"No thanks," Annie replied dryly, packing her things back away as best she could, "You're not really my type."

"Why on earth not?" He demanded, looking offended, "I'm the finest specimen of manhood out." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively as he grinned.

"Exactly, I prefer to work with things less—"

"—Dashing? Handsome? Awe-inspiring? Sexy?" He cut in, his grin widening as he moved closer to her. He rested one hand on the wall just next to Annie's head and looked down at her with what he clearly thought was a seductive smile.

"You know, I'm really busy but since you're so desperate for me honey, I could make an hour for you on Friday evening." He winked.

Annie sputtered indignantly. She'd had it with these goddamn tourists!

She drew herself up to her full height, which was admittedly not much, and snapped, "Or obnoxious, presumptuous and downright rude! You wealthy tourists think you own the goddamn place and you're so much better than the people who've grown up here in the districts!"

"Hey now Annie, I didn't—" he began, looking taken aback but Annie ignored him.

"Worse!" She continued, punctuating every word with a jab of her finger into his chest, "You act like you own ME! I'm a person, just the same as you!"

The man just stood there in shock, his mouth slightly open and leaning away from Annie slightly.

"Actually no," Annie snapped, unleashing the full pent up stress of the past few weeks, "You're just some materialistic, superficial, primped up jerk who's probably never heard no in his cushy little life!"

"Aww now you're just saying that because your jealous of my gorgeous, shiny locks," he said smugly, tossing his head to show of his hair.

His hair _was _beautiful, but Annie wasn't going to give him that satisfaction.

"I bet your brain is just as shiny as your hair," she retorted, "Seeing as you tourists never use them."

To Annie's surprised and irritation, he merely chuckled.

"So, seriously Miss Annie. Friday?" He asked, recovering some of his former smoothness.

"I'd sooner go on a date with a poisonous toad." Annie snapped, and she whirled on her heel and stormed towards the dinner function.

"Hey! Your hair matches your personality!" He called after, "It's shocking!"

Annie didn't dignify that with a response, she simply flipped him off without looking back. 

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**Oh Annie. If only you knew.  
She's had a rough time lately and Finnick was being a jerk.**

Wait until she finds out who he is.

(she doesn't follow celebrities, that's why she didn't recognise him.)

Reviews are love! Until next time!  



	4. How to lose grants and alienate people

**_W_ow, so two updates in one night! Here we see the repercussions of Annie's little outburst!  
Reviews keep me motivated. Thank you! 3 **

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_Shit. _

"Sorry I'm late," she said breathlessly as she hastened into the function room, "Emergency in the clinic."

"Tardiness is inexcusable," sniffed a woman dressed in violently contrasting orange and blue from her position across the beautiful wooden table. "You must be Miss _Cresta_, then?"

"Yep," Annie nodded, waiting for someone to say something—anything_—_but the table remained silent, choosing instead to stare at her. She felt a red flush creeping over her cheeks and frantically looked left and right for an empty seat. Spotting one, she raced over and quickly sank into the chair next to Haymitch. Haymitch shot her a weary look that meant he was displeased by her late entrance, but not really surprised.

Annie's insides twisted with guilt, she _hated_ disappointing people. Haymitch and the Institute were counting on her and she was already off to a bad start.

Not to mention her own future.

"Well you're not the last to arrive my dear so you're not totally incurable, I suppose!" the woman said, visibly cheering up. "I'm Effie Trinket, the PR manager and I'll be your liason for everything related to the film." Annie nodded and returned a smile.

"And these," she beamed, waving her hand around the table, "Are our stars." She placed her hand over her heart and sighed dramatically, as though she was in awe simply by being in their presence.

"Glimmer Marsden, the heroine," she smiled, indicating the thin blonde woman close to her. Glimmer looked at Annie disdainfully from behind long, black-lacquered eyelashes, and tossed her golden hair over her bare shoulder. Annie very deliberately kept her gaze just above and just to the right of her head; the neckline of the glittering red cocktail dress she was wearing plunged to her navel and left very little to the imagination.

Seriously? Annie had swimsuits with more fabric.

Annie looked down at her jeans which were just beginning to wear thin at the knees, use leeching them of colour, and realised with horror that a button had fallen off her blouse at some point. As if this dinner wasn't already uncomfortable enough without her flashing her bra every time she moved! She surreptitiously pulled her jacket a little tighter and tuned back into Effie's excited babbling.

"—And Gloss Lauderman," Effie continued happily. Annie looked at the hulking blonde who looked her up and down in a way that made her feel distinctly uncomfortable.

"Pleased to meet you," Annie squeaked nervously.

"The pleasure is all mine," he replied silkily before murmuring something to Glimmer that made her let out a peal of gratingly high pitched laughter.

Annie looked away embarrassed, and turned to Haymitch.

"Nice entrance there," he muttered sarcastically. "I hope you don't offend any of the Capitol tourists further," he added pointedly.

Annie's cheek flushed pink. "Well, uhhh," she mumbled guiltily.

"Annie?" Haymitch growled, "What have you done?"

"He wasn't anyone from the movie," she whispered quickly, making sure no one else was listening. "He was just some random guy harassing me in the corridor outside! It was his fault really."

"Annie," Haymitch said wearily, rubbing his face with his hands, "You have to be more careful with your temper. You're walking a fine line here between funding your research and never seeing another cent in your life, you understand me?"

Annie nodded, humiliation flooding her cheeks. Haymitch shook his head and went back to his drink.

There were a few minutes of awkward silence as everyone seemed to be waiting for something, but Annie didn't know what.

"So Annie," Gloss began, turning away from Glimmer and back to her, "Can I get you a drink?"

"Oh just a water thank you," she said politely with a small smile.  
The table looked at her like she'd grown a second head, except for Haymitch, who continued to stare moodily into his glass.

"I uhhh, have to drive you see," she added, feeling increasingly uncomfortable. Could she do nothing right with these people?

Gloss simply shrugged and snapped his fingers in the air. Instantly, one of the waiters hovering around the edges of the room filled Annie's glass with cold water.

"Thank you," she said warmly to the waiter. He simply smiled and returned to his former position.  
"Oh, you don't need to thank them dear," Effie laughed, "They're the help!"

"Aren't the locals from the districts of Capitol City just positively quaint!" Glimmer smirked.  
Annie flushed even more. Thankfully she was saved further embarrassment by the main doors swinging open and she gratefully turned her head to see who it was.

And snapped straight back to how she was, so fast she thought she might have had whiplash.  
"What's wrong, sweetheart?" Haymitch muttered, noticing her panic.  
"It's him," she whispered, eyes going wide. "Corridor guy!"

"So sorry Effie, had to shower," the man drawled as he sauntered into the room, winking at the PR manager, who sputtered something about him being incorrigible and chronically tardy. He casually waltzed over and took his seat, directly in front of Annie.  
By now Annie was convinced that every single drop of her blood was in her cheeks.

"We've been waiting for you for dinner!" Effie snapped indignantly. "I told you we had a schedule!" Finnick simply shrugged and flashed her a charming smile that seemed to pacify her as she brightened considerably. "Annie dear, this is Finnick Odair. Our male star!"

Finnick Odair. _The_ Finnick Odair. Oh god, what had she called him?

_A materialistic, superficial primped up jerk,_ a voice in her head helpfully supplies.

How could she have messed up so badly? Maybe the floor could simply engulf her, like a whale might swallow krill.

"Don't worry Effie darling, we've met already," he said with a grin, clearly delighted by Annie's discomfort. He extended a hand to her, "I'm the jerk."

Effie looked from Finnick to Annie and back to Finnick with confusion as Annie unsteadily shook his hand.

"I'm Annie. Annie Cresta," she said weakly.  
Haymitch was sitting beside Annie, looking nothing short of murderous. Annie gulped.  
_Please don__'__t make this worse_, she prayed silently, pleading with her eyes to Finnick.  
"Oh, and I think you dropped this," he smirked, holding out his palm.  
A tiny golden button. The one from her blouse.  
"Thank you," she stammered, reaching out to take it.  
"Uh uh," he teased, snatching his hand back.

"Could I please have it back?" Annie asked, embarrassedly.

Finnick looked thoughtful. "What was it you shouted just before?"  
_Please no. Please don__'__t say anything. Haymitch is going to kill me as it is. __  
_"I think it was," he paused and his face lit up triumphantly. "No! I'd sooner go on a date with a poisonous toad!"  
Gloss looked amused, Glimmer was studying her nails like the whole thing was beneath her, Effie was flabbergasted and Haymitch went bug-eyed.

Annie somehow turned even redder.

_Shit._

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**Oops. I guess Finnick got his own back. What? You didn't expect him to just lie down and take it did you? Going to need some reviews to continue, so many ideas but how to put them on paper (figuratively)?**

**Much love! **


	5. Felix felicis

**Hello lovely readers! Thank you for the wonderful reviews, they mean a lot! I call this chapter, "I'm no quitter" because Annie is definitely a fighter! **

**I need some character names for the next scene(s), so the first 5 reviews get to submit a name!**

Enjoy, much love!

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Annie looked up at the clock and sighed. It wasn't even six am yet but her knees already ached from kneeling on the hard concrete floor beside the dolphin pool, the same floor that she had been scrubbing for the past two _hours_-Haymitch's punishment for her run in with Finnick Odair the previous night.

She sat up and rubbed her back. _It__'__s really his fault_, she thought furiously. _He damn well started it! _She stood up and threw her scrubbing brush back into the bucket. It landed with a satisfyingly loud _CLANG _that made her lips curl up at the corners as she imagined pelting the brush at Finnick Odair's perfectly chiselled face.

He'd squeal. She knew it.

A whistle and series of clicks interrupted her fantasy. Annie turned to the pool to see three dolphins swimming by the edge expectantly. Annie's frown melted from her face and was replaced by a warm smile as she hoisted a second bucket—filled with fresh fish—and walked over to the trio.

"Good morning ladies!" Annie called, "Are we ready for breakfast?" Her voice was met with a chorus of approving clicks and squeals as the dolphins gracefully swam in circles in front of her. One by one, the dolphins gently raised themselves from the water and pressed their noses to Annie's outstretched palms. Annie rewarded them with fish and kind words as she went through the training exercises she had developed. This was where she felt relaxed and at home—not in her dilapidated, sorry excuse for a shack and definitely not in the gaudy ballrooms of the Capitol Resort. If Annie had her way, she would simply spend all day in the water working with the animals. For Annie, understanding animals came naturally. They respected you if you respected them and couldn't give a damn if you wore a wetsuit or a ball gown.

Humans were another matter entirely. _Especially _that jerk, Finnick Odair.

Another excited squeak drew Annie's attention to the adjacent pool. A smaller, younger dolphin was swimming excitedly and splashing to get her attention. He had recently been rescued after a bad storm had swept through the area and he had become separated from his mother. Annie had found him floating around in a lagoon close to the institute: dazed; lonely and covered in lacerations from a discarded fishing line. When she brought him in, Haymitch had warned her that the little dolphin wouldn't make it through the night, but Annie had shaken her head, stubbornly refusing to give up on the 'little guy'.

Annie had worked round the clock with Felipe Marino-Saucedo, the Institute Veterinarian, for the next week, determined to ensure that the dolphin survived. She slept on a camp bed beside the pool in shifts. She took turns with Felipe to encourage the dolphin to suckle from a specially designed bottle and apply antibiotics to the wounds. Finally, when the dolphin showed signs that he was starting to recover, Haymitch allowed Annie to name the dolphin. Felipe suggested Felix, which Haymitch had declared to be a name for cat with some annoyance. Felipe argued that he had derived Felix from Feliz, the Spanish word for happy, and despite the sweat and tears, Felix had made Annie the happiest he had ever seen her. Haymitch had relented, and soon Felix was an official resident of the Institute.

Annie was hoping to introduce him to the other dolphins soon, once she was sure that he was strong enough to keep up and would be welcomed. For now, she settled with sliding into his pool and slowly walking over to him, making encouraging noises. Felix eagerly swam over, and rolled onto his back, allowing Annie to rub his belly. Annie worked through some basic training exercises and fed him as well, feeling completely at peace with thoughts of Finnick Odair and the judgemental tourists forgotten.

Annie glanced at the clock and sighed again. Time was slipping away from her. Today she would be running a diving and snorkelling class for the film crew—an activity she was looking forward to even less after the dinner fiasco. Her cheeks reddened with embarrassment at the memory and suddenly she was as furious with the wealthy Capitol City visitors as she had been the day she found out about this stupid movie. She climbed from the pool and stalked off in the direction of the showers.

She would _not _let Finnick Odair—or anyone else—get the best of her again.

Soon Annie was showered and eating a bowl of cereal in the staff recreation room. The TV was playing highlights of last night's _Panem Tonight _episode. To Annie's disgust, they were featuring Finnick Odair arriving at the airport as their top news story.

Seriously? Was there so little happening in the world that a movie star simply walking through an airport twenty-four hours ago was the _most _important piece of news?

Annie watched as they played the brief few questions that Finnick had deigned to answer.

"And what's your favourite part of Capitol City, Finnick?" The blonde reporter asked, fluttering her eyelashes and jutting out her chest. _Pathetic,_ Annie thought. _Don__'__t you realise he__'__s a chauvinistic, egotistical asshole?! _

She watched Finnick smirk at the woman—he probably thought he looked sexy, but Annie thought he looked foolish—and reply silkily, "Why, the beautiful women of course."

Annie spat her cereal back into her bowl. The beautiful women?! Half the women in Capitol City had fluorescent hair and the other half had skin to match!

Annie shoved her cereal bowl into the sink. Finnick Odair was a good for nothing, womanising jerk who needed to be knocked down a few—no, a _lot_, of—pegs. Annie could hardly bear the thought of spending another second with that man.

But it all came down to money.

To save all the Felixes of the world, Annie needed funds. And the Finnick Odairs of the world had funds. Lots and lots of funds.

With a last fond look towards Felix's pool, Annie gritted her teeth and mentally prepared herself to spend the day with the film crew.

"Finnick for Felix," she whispered to herself. "Finnick for Felix."


	6. Finnick Odair must die

**Hello lovely readers! Thank you for the reviews, especially those of you who regularly review! More Annie x Finnick interactions heading your way.  
**

**For anyone interested, there is a link to how I imagined Bandit to look on my profile. **

**Hope you enjoy, as always reviews are tremendously appreciated! They keep me writing :)**

**EDIT: Thank you so much Kaiya330 for pointing out that I accidentally changed the name of Bandit. I was playing around with names and forgot to make them all the same (my only defense is that it was 2 am and I was tired). Sorry! Thank you for all the lovely reviews already! Mwah!**

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Annie was standing on the Capitol Resort dock wearing comfortable shorts, a white airy cotton blouse and a broad brimmed hat. She shaded her eyes with her hand and peered down the jetty to the fluorescent entourage tramping towards her.

_What nonsense will I have to put up with today? _Annie sighed internally and gritted her teeth.

Sure enough, Annie was not disappointed when the film crew arrived. She glanced at Glimmer, wearing a tiny bikini top and sparkly shorts that barely covered her ass, and then looked back over to Felipe, rolling her eyes. Felipe chuckled and turned his attention back to washing snorkels.

Felipe, in addition to being a marine veterinarian, was a qualified dive instructor and Annie's diving partner. He was a welcome normality amongst the bejeweled and befeathered swimsuits favoured by the Capitol tourists who usually used the Resort's diving vessel.

Annie counted the film crew climbing aboard, but stopped when she reached Effie Trinket.

She looked down at the seven inch, bright pink heels and back up to tight lime-coloured pencil skirt and turquoise scaled headdress that erupted from the centre of her magenta updo, like some magnificent fish bursting from the depths of a fluorescent coloured ocean.

Annie was flabbergasted. She'd never seen anything more ridiculous, and she'd been dealing with Capitol tourists for years. She wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry at the monstrously vivid getup, but instead settled for a polite, "Wow, Effie, you've gone all out today."

"Isn't it _fabulous _darling?" Effie gushed, doing a delicate twirl to reveal that she had a turquoise fish tail trailing down the back of her skirt. "I was so inspired by beautiful fish here I just had to have it made!"

"Well I'm afraid you can't come aboard like that," Annie said with a shake of her head.

Effie's twirling jerked to a halt. "And why on earth not?" Effie tapped her foot impatiently and pursed her bright pink lips.

Felipe looked up and Annie realised she needed to deal with this delicately.

"Effie, it's a safety thing that's out of my control," Annie began, before sparking an idea. "If you changed to flat, enclosed shoes I could spend less time on safety briefings and keep us to schedule…" Annie continued slyly.

Effie brightened and complied at once, "Oh well if it will help with the schedule, why didn't you say so darling!"

Annie watched her whip a pair of stylish canvas shoes out of her purse, slip them on and climb aboard.

_Maybe dealing with these people wouldn__'__t be so bad after all_, she thought with a sense of proud accomplishment.

"You handled Effie well, my charm must be rubbing off on you," a voice gleefully noted from behind Annie. She instantly felt deflated and turned around slowly. She looked across the dock, taking in the self-assured smirk, designer sunglasses and deceivingly casual polo and shorts that probably cost as much as much as her rent for six months.

"Mr Odair, how nice of you to join us," Annie observed mildly, refusing to give him the satisfaction of getting a rise out of her.

"What, lost your spark today?" He teased with a smirk. "Is it because you introduced your hair to a brush?" He pressed, clearly looking for a reaction.

Annie simply smiled sweetly, "Thank you for noticing, Mr Odair." Finnick's brows furrowed with annoyance and Annie grinned internally. It was immensely satisfying to see Finnick's frustration.

He wasn't nearly as attractive when he was frowning.

Finnick's eyes lit up as he thought of an idea. "You know, the other night I got to see quite a lot of you," he looked down at her chest and grinned. Annie crossed her arms with a huff. "It's only fair that I return the favour…" He moved closer to Annie, unbuttoning his polo shirt and giving her a good view of his tanned pecs. "I know how you do _so _enjoy the view."

_Damn._ He did have a good body. Annie felt her cheeks redden slightly and she was furious with herself.

Annie was about to sharply retort something that would have made Haymitch spray his bourbon everywhere when she was interrupted by an ear-splitting shriek from aboard the boat.

"MUTT! THERE'S A MUTT ABOARD THE SHIP!" Effie wailed, "GET IT OFF ME! HELP!" There was a commotion of things being knocked over, a yowl and people shouting before a wet, furry animal bounded down the gangplank and over to Annie.

"Hey there, Bandit," Annie said fondly, rubbing the dog behind the ears. "Did you try to steal Effie's tail?" She giggled.

Annie could never resist an animal in need of help. Bandit was a stray that had wandered up to Annie's shack a few years back. Annie had caught him in her kitchen in the middle of an act of 'highway robbery': trying to reach a lamb bone on her kitchen counter. Annie had fed the starving dog, fondly named him, Bandit, and they had been nigh inseparable ever since. He always came aboard diving expeditions as her 'oceanographic consultant' and Felipe had tied a white bandana with blue anchors around his neck to symbolise that he was the captain of the ship. He had a black, white and tawny coat that was almost always matted by sand and seawater despite Annie's best efforts. Annie swore that he was a purebred Shetland Sheepdog of the finest pedigree, while Haymitch called him a 'gentleman of exotic origins'—a nicer way of saying a mongrel.

Annie was still cuddling Bandit when Finnick's chuckle rudely interrupted, "Talk about dogs looking like their owners!" To Annie's intense chargrin, Bandit shook himself and padded over to Finnick, licking his hand.

Weren't dogs supposed to be good judges of character? Annie scowled furiously.

Finnick looked up from petting Bandit and over to Annie. Annie immediately looked away to hide her frown—she couldn't afford to upset Finnick anymore than she already had if she ever wanted to see a single cent of grant money again.

He brushed his hands on his shorts and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Look, we kind of got off to a bad start," he started.

Finnick Odair? Awkward? Annie was in disbelief and nearly snorted aloud.

"I figure since we're going to have to work together, we should try to be civil to each other," he continued.

Annie nodded warily. He looked sincere, but he was a professional actor wasn't he?

Finnick looked as though he were about to say something when yet another shriek rent the calm seaside air, "THERE HE IS GIRLS! IT'S FINNICK ODAIR!"

A near stampede of teenagers were running down the dock, only to be held back by the resort security guards stationed by the boat. Instantly Finnick was back to all smirks and charm as he waved to his adoring fans—who had to be, what, ten years younger than him? Annie was disgusted.

The security guards were attempting to usher Annie and Finnick out of view of the crowd and onto the boat, when Finnick turned to Annie and said in his smugly superior voice, "So if you'll just apologise for your behaviour, I'll be gracious enough to forgive you."

Annie sputtered indignantly and turned bright red. Finnick grinned, pleased to have rattled her at last—so Annie did the only thing she could.

She slipped her foot inside the loop of rope she had been tying before Finnick arrived and inconspicuously tugged it. Hard.

Fast as lightning, a net slung across the ground and tangled around Finnick's ankles, bringing him down hard onto the deck. He landed with an undignified 'oof' and immediately shot an accusatory glare towards Annie.

Felipe guffawed so hard he nearly fell off the edge of the boat and Bandit lolled his tongue and wagged his tail merrily as they watched Finnick struggling to free himself.

"You're quite right, Mr Odair," Annie said, the corners of her mouth tugging upwards as she sashayed victoriously up the gangplank, "I do _so_ enjoy the view."


	7. Have you tried Jenny yet?

**Wow, again two updates within 24 hours! This is too apologise for the intense focus I will need over the next few days/weeks with some mid-sem exams and assignments.  
**

**I'm really excited about this chapter because we meet one of my favourite HG characters. :)  
Shout outs to Odestalovebaby, houseofme, Kaiya330, music lover from district 4, ILoveCandy11 and Arriane Malum for their reviews. I'm trying to figure out ways to work all my regular reviewers names into the story, but some of them are a bit more difficult than others. So if any of you guys have a character name or suggestion, please PM me!**

**Anyway, I hope all you lovely readers enjoy! If I may take one moment, could you please take a look at my profile? There's a link to Live Below The Line there. Basically, I'm going to be experiencing extreme poverty: living on $2 a day for food for 5 days. I'm doing this to raise awareness and funds for the 1.1 billion people around the world in extreme poverty because as far as I'm concerned, extreme poverty is NOT acceptable AND we can defeat it by creating an empowered youth movement!**

So if you have a few dollars spare ($3 buys textbooks for one child for a whole year) I would really REALLY appreciate it if you would donate to my campaign. Please sponsor me as a tribute!

Thanks lovelies, enjoy!

* * *

Annie and Bandit sat at the prow of the boat, relishing the salty spray and wind whipping about them. Bandit wagged his tail excitedly and Annie stretched luxuriously in the warm sunshine, enjoying her five minutes of peace.

Felipe and Annie had originally planned for Annie to do the safety briefing en route, but had soon discovered that many of the crew had refused to take the sea sickness pills provided in case they made them 'fat'.

Now many of them were very unceremoniously undergoing the 'instant weight loss diet'—Annie's code for being violently seasick.

Annie heard a clatter behind her and turned around to see Effie Trinket wobbling about the deck, her face matching her green skirt.

"Don't worry Effie, you'll find your sea legs soon enough!"Annie called encouragingly. Effie, merely slumped to the deck dejectedly, placing her face in powder white hands with long lacquered nails.

"Are you sure you don't want a pill?"Annie asked, getting up walking over to her, "You'll feel right as rain straight away."

Effie merely shook her head miserably causing her magenta updo to slide alarmingly from side to side.

"Well, we'll be there soon and it will calm down a lot,"Annie said kindly, and gave Effie's shoulder a sympathetic pat. "Tell you what, I'll bring you a bottle of cold water, that usually helps."

Effie managed a weak smile, and murmured a 'thank you dear'.

No one from Capitol City, despite their emphasis on 'good manners', had ever thanked Annie before. She smiled back and headed back into the main cabin with Bandit in tow.

* * *

Annie strolled into the main cabin feeling perfectly at ease with the rolling waves, but noticing with some amusement that the majority of the film crew were far from comfortable. With some delight, she noted that Glimmer looked particularly pale, with her golden hair slightly damp and stuck to her forehead.

_Serves the stuck up bitch right_, she thought. Earlier when Annie had been offering the seasickness pills Glimmer had declined quite nastily, saying it was fine for people like _Annie _to take them when no one would even notice if they gained any _more_ weight. Annie had often been teased for being a little heavy when she was a kid, and although she was quite toned now from all her hard physical work at the institute, the comment had stung.

To Annie's displeasure, Finnick on the other hand looked practically glowing. He was chattering excitedly to an elderly lady who also seemed no worse for wear despite the rough surf.

Noticing her gaze, he called her over, "Hey Annie, there's someone I'd like you to meet."

Cursing inwardly, Annie dragged herself over and put on a smile.

"Annie, this is Mags,"Finnick said with a smile. Annie was surprised because he seemed genuinely happy. "She's my acting mentor."

Annie turned to the elderly lady, who had kind green eyes, weathered skin and a near mane of grey wavy hair. Mags clasped her hands over Annie's and smiled widely, revealing quite a few missing teeth. This was not the kind of person Annie would have expected to be mentoring the famous Finnick Odair.

"Pleased to meet you, Mags,"Annie returned, also smiling warmly. The old lady seemed so sweet she just couldn't help but return her smile. "Are you excited about the snorkelling trip today?"Mags nodded her head enthusiastically and her smile widened even further.

"It's nice to be back,"Mags said slowly and quietly. Annie had difficulty following what she said.

"Yeah, we've been here before, haven't we Mags?"Finnick said cheerfully waving his hands to indicate the blue expanse of ocean outside the window.

"Beautiful place,"Mags agreed, "…and a beautiful lady looking after us." She smiled at Annie and enveloped her in a big hug. "Pay no attention to that skinny girl dear, she's just jealous because all she has is her looks."Mags patted Annie's arm reassuringly and Annie felt her cheeks flush slightly. Mags then toddled over to Bandit who had curled up in his bed and began stroking his fur, murmuring softly.

Finnick watched her walk away fondly, but then his face turned sombre, "Annie, do you mind if I talk to you for a sec?"

"Umm, sure,"Annie said uncertainly and followed him to a slightly secluded corner of the room.

"Mags had a stroke a couple of years back,"he said quietly, his sea green eyes looking sad. "That's why she has some difficulty talking."

Annie nodded with a touch of sadness. Her grandfather had had a series of strokes before he passed away, and she knew how difficult it was to try to recover.

"She's a great swimmer,"Finnick continued earnestly. "She loves the water, but I just want to make sure she doesn't get into any stressful situations. Would you help me watch over her?"

"Of course,"Annie replied honestly. "It's my job to make sure everyone is okay in the water."

"Everyone?" Finnick asked with a grin, his normal arrogant self returning.

"Everyone." She agreed, "Be they fish, human, or even you."

Finnick laughed, "Whatever you say, Sparky.". With that, he headed over to Mags who was now enthusiastically rubbing Bandit's belly.

Annie stayed where she was, lost in thought. How could Finnick be so caring about Mags, but a womanising, narcissistic jerk the rest of the time?

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she grabbed a bottle of water and headed back out to Effie.

* * *

After spending a bit of time with Effie, Annie wandered around the cabin checking on the crew and learning people's names.

"Hi, I'm Castor,"a burly man with sandy hair, a red beard and blue eyes said, "That there is my brother, Pollux."A man very similar in appearance looked up from polishing a camera lens and smiled.

"We'll be doing the filming for the movie,"Castor continued, "Pollux will be doing the underwater scenes, because he's more experienced."Annie shook both their hands.

"I look forward to working with you, guys,"she said sincerely. While they may be Capitol City tourists, these men seemed genuine and kind. To Annie's delight, they were both interested in the local marine life and she quickly fell into easy conversation.

After they had been talking for about twenty minutes, Castor leaned closer and whispered conspiratorially to Annie, "Pollux doesn't say much, but he's a big fan of your work filming them manta rays. Truth be told, he's got a bit of a crush on you."He winked and Annie looked over to Pollux, whose face had turned bright red and his skin now blended with his beard.

Annie was shocked. No one was ever interested in her. Her cheeks turned pink and she smiled shyly at Pollux and he nervously returned a small smile.

"Well, I better keep checking on everyone,"she said politely. "It was lovely to meet you."She hurried away, feeling slightly flustered but a little bit more confident than she had this morning. She caught Mags'eye who beamed at her, making her blush even further. Finnick on the other hand, scowled at her before returning to charming Glimmer.

No surprises there.

Annie also spoke to the director, Cressida. Cressida was dressed in a sharply cut suit in all different hues of violet, with a matching purple lipstick. She spoke with a strange, clipped accent, but seemed nice enough to Annie.

"The movie is about finding a long-lost underwater shipwreck filled with treasure, so it's called _Lost to the Sea_,"she explained. "Finnick will be the hero, trying to discover the treasure with his love, played by Glimmer."

_He__'__ll enjoy that_, Annie thought to herself.

"Gloss will initially be posing as Finnick's friend, but the twist is that he's actually the villain who wants to steal the treasure for himself."Cressida paused dramatically, clearly expecting Annie to be shocked by her 'clever twist'. Annie raised her eyebrows in mock surprise which seemed to be enough for Cressida.

"But since he can't find it, he's going to kidnap Glimmer and use her to force Finnick to get it for him. Finnick will then rescue her with daring heroics and they'll kiss on the beach at sunset."She sighed and had a dreamy expression on her face.

Annie honestly thought the plot sounded really boring and obvious. "Sounds great,"she lied awkwardly. Fortunately, Cressida didn't seem to notice.

"Yes, it's going to be my greatest film yet!"She trilled excitedly, clapping her hands together. "Although, lots of people say that my greatest masterpiece is _Sweet Home District 7_, but I personally prefer, _When Peeta Met Katniss. _What do you think, Annie?"

Annie gulped and blanched, because she had truthfully never seen either of those films. Sometimes she barely had enough money to buy dinner, when would she ever go to the fancy cinema in Capitol City?

"I uhhh…couldn't choose? They're both…fabulous?"She offered weakly, hoping that would satisfy Cressida.

Cressida was nodding and Annie felt relieved. Thankfully she was spared any further awkward moments by Felipe announcing they had arrived at the reef.

Annie quietened everyone down, and began a quick slide show detailing the safety requirements for snorkelling, the buddy system, and the local marine life to look out for.

"So in the event of an emergency, I want you or your buddy to stick your right arm straight up in the air and call out if you can't get the attention of Felipe or myself,"Annie stressed. "Don't stick your arm unless it's an _actual _emergency, Okay?"

Glimmer shot her arm straight up in the air. "I, for one, am at risk of dying of boredom,"she sneered and earned a few titters from her entourage of makeup artists and her mentor, Selena Cosmia.

"Yes Glimmer, just like that,"Annie said with an encouraging smile, "You mastered that really quickly! Well done!"

Castor and Pollux guffawed, Felipe chuckled and Finnick struggled to contain his laughter behind his hand. Glimmer's triumphant smirk instantly turned into a scowl and she tossed her hair angrily. She looked a lot less pretty with deep frown lines etched on her face.

Annie smiled, and addressed the crowd, "So if there are no further questions, Felipe will help you get your snorkels and flippers on, and we can go for a swim."

* * *

As people were putting on their gear outside, a woman who had been hanging around Finnick approached Annie.

"Arianne Malum,"she introduced, "I'm Finnick's stylist."She had dark red make up, her head was near shaven, and she had a dusting of golden shimmer over her body. As far as Capitol City tourists went, she was almost ordinary.

"A piece of advice honey,"she cautioned Annie. "Don't get on the bad side of Glimmer or her mentor, Selena. It'll end so badly that not even my rather impressive talents could restore your pretty little face."She looked sad and gently tugged one of Annie's dark curls.

Before Annie could ask her what she meant, she waltzed away to spritz Finnick's hair with some glittery spray.

_No wonder his damn hair looked so good_, Annie thought crossly, _he had round the clock professional care!_

_I wonder how good it will look after a thorough drenching by the ocean, _Annie wondered with a smile.


	8. Wobbegoing, going, going, gong

**Hi everyone! We're back with another chapter sooner than I expected!**

**Thanks for the news favs and follows and of course shout outs to my reviewers! Suk-Fong, Coolseal9, music lover from district 4, houseofme, Odestalovebaby, ILoveCandy11 and Arriane Malum. Love you guys ;)**

**HayffieLuv74: I haven't ruled it out yet! I'm thinking on it!**  
**Guest: Yes it's definitely Bandit, the previous chapter should have been edited for any inconsistencies. It was originally Skip but I couldn't resist Felipe saying 'little Bandido' in his sexy Spanish accent!**

**Bandido = Bandit in Spanish just btw.**

**For anyone concerned that this story is just 'drabble' or doesn't have enough going on, believe me there are going to be some HUGE events coming up. Very non-drabble. ;) Grab some popcorn and hold onto your butts!**

**Thanks for everyone who's taken the time to look at Live Below the Line, now you all know my real name too. Haha. **

**Much love, hope you enjoy! **

* * *

Annie dived into the crystal clear, azure waters of Tintorera reef, her long dark curls billowing behind her. She opened her eyes and was assaulted by an array of such brilliant colours and textures it put the Capitol City tourists' wardrobes to shame.

Annie loved the reef. She loved the corals, the fish, the turtles and she felt all her previous stress melting away as she glided through the water.

She surfaced and slicked her hair back, a wide grin stretching across her face.

"Looking good, honey," Felipe called out to her from his watch post on the ship, "Your little Bandido is driving me crazy though eh?" Bandit was pacing backwards and forwards along the edge of the boat, wagging his tail furiously. He jumped into the water and paddled over to Annie.

"You know that's just a giant bath tub right, little Bandido?" Felipe laughed as he watched Bandit excitedly swim around Annie.

How could dogs be so enthusiastic about the ocean but hate baths so much? Annie would never understand.

Annie scanned the tourists, counting to make sure everyone was here. Finnick and Mags were swimming strongly, Castor and Pollux were setting up some cameras on the edge of the boat with Cressida shrilling something about angles and Oscars, and Glimmer was floating contentedly a short distance away.

Everyone was accounted for. Annie breathed a sigh of relief. She could only hope that the rest of the day went smoothly, but she somehow didn't think that was likely.

She swam over to Mags and Finnick, where Mags was squeaking delightedly and pointing at something on the reef floor.

"No, I still can't see it, Mags," Finnick said, clearly frustrated. Mags pointed again and Finnick squinted and cocked his head, frowning in concentration.

"What are you guys looking at?" Annie asked cheerfully as she tread water next to the pair.

Mags smiled and pointed again.

"Oh! A Tasseled wobbegong!" Annie exclaimed. "Well spotted Mags!"

Mags beamed and Finnick huffed with irritation.

"I still can't see it!" He whined and kicked his flippers in annoyance. A cloud of sand flew up and suddenly, a patchwork of mottled green and brown ocean floor shot up into the water.

Only it wasn't ocean floor. It was a small, flat creature with very rounded flippers with feathery protrusions extending from its body.

"Finnick, this is a wobbegong. It's an Elasmobranchii, order Orectolobidae." Annie said enthusiastically. Finnick looked at her blankly.

"Uhh, A type of shark," she added. "They're pretty cute little guys."

Well, little by Annie's standards. The shark was actually nearly two metres long, much longer than Annie herself.

"A shark?! Mags, stay behind me!" Finnick cried, throwing what Annie supposed was a protective arm out between Mags and herself and the shark.

Annie and Mags burst into laughter and Finnick scowled at them.

"Wobbegongs are pretty harmless unless you step on them," Annie explained with a smile.

"Which I very nearly did!" Finnick shot back. "I don't remember this wooligone on your slideshow!"

"Wobbegong," Annie corrected, "Our reefs have some of the greatest biodiversity on Earth. You can't expect everything to make it into a twenty minute presentation."

Finnick merely glared at her.

"Besides," she continued, "Rule number 6 was do not step on the floor."

"Alright, fine," he huffed. There were a few minutes of silence between Finnick and Annie as they watched Mags eagerly swimming about the reef, stopping to inspect a turtle that had surfaced nearby.

"Thank you," he said so softly, Annie wasn't sure she had heard him correctly. She looked at him questioningly.

"For making Mags so happy," he explained without taking his eyes off Mags.

"My pleasure," Annie replied sincerely.

* * *

The snorkelling continued for about another half an hour without incident. Annie watched Glimmer and Finnick flirting, only for Glimmer to swim off in a rage when Finnick abruptly ignored her to look at something Mags had found.

That wasn't nearly as funny as Bandit and Effie though. Bandit was having the time of his life, jumping in and out of the water, but every time he got back on board the boat, he would shake vigorously, and shower the crew with sea water.

One time he must have padded into the main cabin and shaken because Annie suddenly heard Effie shrill, "No! Stop, no! You dirty dog! That is MAHOGANY!" Bandit had bounded out onto the deck and jumped back into the water, being chased by Effie who was making delicate shooing motions.

Felipe had nearly fallen off the top deck, he was laughing so hard, to which Effie had snapped, "_Manners!_"

Soon after, Felipe blew the whistle signalling it was time to come back aboard for lunch. Annie and Bandit were swimming just next to the ladder, counting everyone as they came back on.

"Twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five…" Annie said aloud, her eyes widening.

_She was three short! _

Annie quickly looked back around the reef. She sighed when she spotted Finnick and Mags about 50 metres from the boat eagerly looking at something. She looked further to the left of them and realised Glimmer was drifting quite far from the boat.

"Finnick! Mags! Glimmer!" She shouted, "Time to get back on board!"

Finnick and Mags looked up and began swimming back. Glimmer tossed her hair and was probably muttering something unpleasant, but to Annie's relief, also began to come back to the boat.

Suddenly Bandit started whimpering and jumped back onto the boat as fast as he could, ears flat against his head and tail between his legs.

"Bandit, what's wrong with you?" Annie asked, confused. Bandit just growled and shrank back from the edge.

Annie looked back to the swimmers still coming back to the boat, Finnick and Mags were almost there, but Glimmer was lazily paddling, still some distance away.

"Glimmer, c'mon, you need to get back on board!" Annie called impatiently.

"It's Miss Marsden to you!" She shouted back, with her nose in the air.

"Where's the fire, Sparky?" Finnick called with a grin as he approached Annie. Annie was about to wryly retort something about 'fire' and 'water' and 'idiot' but was interrupted by Felipe urgently shouting.

"Annie! FIN! Ten o'clock high!"

Finnick laughed, "I'm right here, and anyway it must be closer to twel-" Annie shushed him and looked in the direction Felipe had called to her, her face blanching.

Finnick turned around too, just in time to hear Glimmer scream at the top of her lungs.

"_SHARK!"_


	9. She disagreed with something that ate he

**Hey everyone, thanks for the reviews! Really appreciate it! Reviews keep me writing when I should really be studying!**

This chapter is ACTUALLY called "She disagreed with something that ate her" but that's one character too long for FF! :(

**Review responses for those I can't PM.**

**NoName:** If you like saying it, how about... _How many gongs would a wobbegong bong if a wobbegong could bong gongs_? Haha! The reason I've included two different types of sharks in this scene is because I, like Annie, am a huge advocate of protecting our wildlife and ecosystems. I wanted to stress that while some sharks ARE very dangerous, they are beautiful, incredible animals and there are certainly some very cute ones! So I was hoping to tone down the scariness of the shark scene with some adorable little sharks.

**NewWobbegongFan:** Aww I'm glad. I love pouring over wildlife text books and learning about all the animals and I'm definitely going to be throwing in little biology facts! Source, I am a biologist. Also with Glimmer you could probably bite her ass and get her head because her head is shoved so far up it.

**Anyway, reviews are basically my way of justifying this story. Please review for me to update!**

**Ladies and gentlemen, the ante is set at 20 reviews for the next update. (please c:) **

**Please enjoy! I had a lot of fun writing this because this is essentially one of my absolute favourite movie genres.**

**Warning: my Beta felt panicked and nervous reading this scene. Take a moment to grab your fluffy teddies before continuing at your peril!**

**Much love! xx**

* * *

_The sight of a dark grey fin effortlessly slicing through the waves sparks a deep seated primal fear in the heart of every man. _

_We know that fin is connected to powerful muscles and those muscles to a jaw filled with row upon row of razor sharp teeth. We are out of our depth. While we are awkward arms and legs, poorly suited for swimming, the shark has been fine tuned by millions of years of evolution to be the apex predator. The perfect killing machine which we cannot hope to compete against._

_We are not predator, but prey; and we are very, very afraid of being eaten alive. _

* * *

Glimmer was panicking. Instead of swimming she was thrashing her arms and screaming. Annie feared she might drown.

More importantly, Annie knew that sharks were attracted to splashing and noise.

She had to act fast.

Finnick and Mags had reached the boat now, Finnick half dragging a terrified Mags onto the deck and collapsing. So now Annie just had to rescue Glimmer.

The crew were screaming at Glimmer to swim to the boat as fast as she could, Felipe was jumping down onto the lower deck to help, but Annie was still in the water and she was the closest.

But not close enough. The fin turned sharply and headed towards Glimmer, rising up out of the sea to reveal the tail some two metres back. It was clearly visible in the shallow, clear water now. Annie could make out a rounded snout and long pectoral fins, but it was the dappled skin that gave it away to her and Felipe instantaneously.

"_Galeocerdo cuvier_," Felipe breathed.

A tiger shark.

A known maneater.

And it had to be at least four metres in length.

Annie was too far to reach her in time. If it felt like it, it could damn near bite Glimmer in half.

"Is Glimmer a strong swimmer?!" She asked Selena urgently. Selena shook her head without looking away from Glimmer.

So Annie wrenched the life ring off the side of the boat and threw it like a Frisbee as hard as she could across the water to Glimmer.

"GLIMMER. FREEZE!" Annie shouted over the raucous of screams from the boat.

Glimmer was stunned into compliance, her body freezing in the water. The boat fell into silence tense silence, broken only by Glimmer's whimpers, as they watched the shark siddle up almost lazily alongside Glimmer.

"Glimmer! Glimmer listen to me!" Annie called desperately, "Hold as still as you can! Like you're playing dead!"

Glimmer nodded with wide eyes and clung to the ring for dear life.

"It's going to eat her," whispered Cressida, her face pale as she looked on with horror.

"If it wanted to bite her it could have done so already. We would never even have seen it," Annie muttered. Cressida shot her look that said, _is that supposed to help?!_

"You're doing great honey," Annie said as calmly as she could as she focused all her concentration on Glimmer, but keeping a wary eye on the circling fin. "Just keep looking at me and we're going to get you out of there okay?"

Glimmer swallowed and clung even tighter.

_Hold tight Glimmer, _she thought desperately.

Suddenly Glimmer shrieked and shot up in the water as the fin went past her. The crew gasped audibly and Effie's hands were tightly clasped over her mouth, trembling.

"It touched me! It touched me!" She was screaming hysterically and starting to splash.

"Glimmer, stay still!" Annie commanded with authority, once again subduing her slightly. "He's curious, he's just checking you out, okay?"

Glimmer was beyond listening to Annie now and was simply moaning about being 'too young and pretty to die' as she watched the shark with pure terror.

Annie had to get her out of there. _Fast_.

Annie turned back to the crew, "Someone go bang something metal on the far side of the ship. Rhythmically. Now!" Felipe scampered off with Mags and Arriane in tow, picking up some scuba equipment and buckets.

As soon as they began tapping, the shark diverted away from Glimmer and headed over to investigate. It was lucky this boat was so long, it put a good hundred feet between her and the shark.

Annie took a deep breath, and plunged into the blue.

She could hear Effie shriek, Finnick calling after her, Felipe shouting something, but she ignored them all. All of her focus was on swimming the hardest race she'd ever had in her life.

As quickly and smoothly as she could, she struck out for where Glimmer was holding onto the ring, paralyzed.

"Stay calm, Glimmer!" She called, with far more bravado than she actually felt. Glimmer gave no indication of having heard Annie at all. Annie suspected she was in shock.

Annie pulled up in front of her, panting slightly.

"C'mon Glimmer, swim!" Annie pleaded desperately with her, "It's safe now but we have to go!"

Glimmer, trembling all over, stubbornly shook her head holding onto the ring as hard as she could.

"Glimmer, c'mon!" Annie said more sharply, pulling the ring hard in the direction of the boat.

Glimmer abruptly let go of the ring and latched onto Annie's arm tightly. Annie was pulled under and almost breathed in a lungful of water as sharp pain shot down her arm. Pushing Glimmer away, she broke the surface and gasped in air.

Glimmer was back to full-scale hysteria—thrashing and screaming. The shark was going to come back any _second_ if she didn't-

-Annie looked down at her arm with a sickeningly realization. Glimmer had raked her long, fake red nails down Annie's upper arm, making four distinct gashes.

Thin red tendrils curled and licked her skin, slowly dissipating into the water. Sluggishly, Annie's mind processed what was happening.

Annie was _bleeding_ in the water.

Near a very large, man eating shark.

"Kick! Now!" Annie commanded, all pretense of remaining calm abandoned. Adrenaline pumping through her veins, Annie began forcefully dragging the ring, with Glimmer attached, to the boat. Glimmer held on for dear life, but soon began kicking as hard as she could.

They were making good progress towards the ladder when Felipe shouted something that made Annie's blood run cold.

"Annie, I've lost it! I can't see it anymore!"

"What do you mean, you've lost it?!" Finnick snapped.

But Annie wasn't listening to the shouting on the boat anymore. She flipped herself over so she was doing backstroke, pulling the ring with one hand and swimming with the other.

"You watch forwards, I'll watch behind. Just kick!" She shouted at Glimmer. Glimmer didn't respond, except to kick even harder.

Annie's heart was pounding in her ears and she could hear people on the boat screaming for her to _swim faster, you're almost there_!

The ladder was almost in reach when Annie felt a strange tug on her foot. She vaguely wondered if Bandit was chewing on her when she was violently dragged beneath the surface so quickly she didn't even get to scream.


	10. You're going to need a bigger boat

**AN:** Hi everyone. Sorry it's been such a long time since I last updated, especially when it was on a cliffhanger. One of my research supervisors passed away very suddenly and tragically, and since this story is meant to incorporate a real science research component based on what I actually do - it's just been too hard to write. Thank you for everyone who messaged me with concern and everyone who PM'd me with questions, I will try to get back to you all now.

Thank you for all these kind and lovely reviews, if it hadn't been for you I don't think I would have come back to this story at all. I really struggled writing this chapter, I'm still not 100% happy with it but I've decided to move on - I think the rest of this story still has promise and I'm keen to get past this. I think it will be therapeutic to move on. This is a really long chapter, so I hope it helps to make up for all the waiting you guys have had to do.

One good thing that has come out of my long silence is that I survived "living below the line". I lived on $2 AUS a day for food for 5 days to raise awareness for those living in poverty. While I was doing so, I raised an enormous $1097 for education projects in Timor-Leste, Cambodia and Papua New Guinea. That's enough to fund 20 kids through high school, or send 4 people to university and it's absolutely incredible. If you want to find out more about my projects, please PM me or check out the link on my profile.

My beta queried the realism of this chapter. Just to clarify, I based the injuries and treatment on a case study we did in one of my own Biomed courses. You can actually see a short video of the survivor's perspective that I can link you if you want (pm/review and mention it). So while the trauma is severe, it has been previously survived. Grab a teddy while you read, I myself tried writing while listening to the Jaws theme and it became too intense and had to have a good cuddle (ironically) with my fluffy shark, Jacques.

Finally, RIP Martin, we all miss you.

* * *

Annie's fingertips grazed the ocean surface, but it was _wrong. _

It should be blue sky seen through dappled sunlight and clear waves. Like Annie loved. But not today. Today it was red. Churning and frothing in a frenzy.

And something was tugging on her. The slight chewing sensation was gone—replaced by an immense, bone-crushing pressure. Annie groped down for her right leg, feeling tattered wetsuit and was that—flesh?

Pain and panic hit Annie simultaneously. She looked down with bile rising in her throat. A grey wedge shaped snout with dark stripes was in the place of where her lower leg should be. Annie would know that flattened nose and stripes anywhere: _Galeocerdo cuvier_:Row upon row of wickedly curved serrated teeth that could slice through turtle shells like butter. Teeth powered by six hundred kilograms of muscle and sinew driven by millions of years of evolutionarily honed instinct—the need to feed. And that instinct was fixated on her. Annie's sea green eyes locked with the shark's own dull, black orbs. They were expressionless, lifeless—like doll's eyes. Annie might have wondered if it was even alive—if it wasn't currently tearing through her leg.

Annie shoved at its head with her hands—bubbles escaping her mouth as she tried to scream underwater. The shark started to shake her, gyrating from side to side, dragging her through the water as though she weighed no more than a feather. Annie began kicking with her free leg and pounding the shark with all her strength, scratching the snout with her nails. The shark refused to let go, carrying her into the depths with a few swipes of its enormous sickle tail. Her beating fists became weaker, until they almost rested on the snout in defeat. Warm blood was pulsing over her hip in a crimson plume, colouring the ocean red as far as Annie could see. Annie was wracked with fear and nausea and an all consuming need for _air_.

_Air… I need… __to breathe__…_

* * *

"O. Oxygen" Professor Abernathy drew on the chalkboard, the chalk squeaking slightly as he punctuated the circle. "We need it for all the processes of life. Can anyone tell me an example of such a cellular process?" He drawled slightly and glanced at his watch irritably. It was nearly lunch time and there was a nice bottle of bourbon with his name on it tantalisingly close in his office.

Annie's hand shot up in the sea of some 400 students immediately. Without waiting to be called upon, she answered in a clear voice, "Aerobic respiration, for oxidation of nutrients to form energy."

"Well done sweetheart, you must have done just dandy in Cellular Biol 2032," he said sarcastically. The auditorium filled with snickers, and Annie's cheeks flushed crimson. She sank into her chair, embarrassed. Internally, the professor berated himself. The university made him give an annual series of lectures as part of his grant conditions and if the students weren't happy, that grant dried up. _Students for seals_, he reminded himself.

"Uhhh, yes. Without oxygen you're in trouble," he added hastily, running his fingers through his greasy hair. "Now, we get our oxygen through our lungs. Since this is intro to marine anatomy, how do fish obtain oxygen?"

Annie stayed mute, but another voice called out, "Gills."

"Yes, yes. That's right," Haymitch replied, drawing a series of crude straight lines on the board inside what Annie supposed, was a fish. Or perhaps a lollipop on its side.

"Now, the gills are a very sensitive part of any fish. If you block those, the fish can't breathe," Haymitch continued in a very serious voice.

Just then the bell rang, and Haymitch quickly added over the thunder of desks being pushed aside and students standing up, "Read pages 354 to 396, with particular emphasis on gill vasculature! Don't forget, pathophysiology quiz next week!"

* * *

Gills.

_Gills! _

Annie wrenched herself from the inky blackness of unconsciousness and groped blindly around the side of the beast's head. Her right arm strained against the limits of her tendons, fingers desperately scrabbling for purchase on sandpapery skin. Her lungs were burning, screaming at her to take a breath. Her vision was darkening again—when her fingers brushed something feathery. With adrenaline fuelled determination, she viciously jabbed her fingers into the delicate inlet.

The shark's teeth released momentarily, before clamping back down on Annie's leg. Fresh waves of searing white pain shot up her leg. Annie ground her teeth, and stuck her fingers in further, scratching the snout with her free hand. The shark thrashed in pain, churning the water and making Annie even dizzier. Suddenly, Annie burst through the ocean surface, being lifted nearly a metre into the air. She gasped for precious oxygen—only to have her mouth fill with seawater and blood as she was dragged back under—and suddenly brought back up again. She splashed frantically towards the boat, head snapping from side to side as she scanned for the shark, but she couldn't make anything out in the red cloud billowing around her.

Suddenly she let out a blood curdling shriek as she felt hundreds of razors slice down her rib and sink into her thigh. The shark shook her, slapping her from side to side on the ocean surface. Annie was screaming, a guttural cry of terror and pain as she was tossed about, her arms flailing helplessly

And then the shark was dragging her back under.

Deeper.

And deeper.

She'd hardly taken in any air during those brief seconds at the surface. Her head was pounding and her lungs were desperately trying to purge the bloody seawater she'd inhaled. Any second now she would pass out from lack of oxygen, and then she'd drown. A lonely death on the ocean floor in the jaws of a shark.

Dimly, she thought how the Crestas' had made their living on the sea for generations.

Annie wasn't about to be the first Cresta to drown!

In a last ditch effort, Annie reached for that feathery delicate inlet, inserted her hand and violently twisted ninety degrees.

The pressure on her abated instantly. The shark had let her go!

Annie saw the creamy underbelly shoot over her and into the waters beyond the reef with a few flicks of its sickle shaped tail. Her eyebrows furrowed as she saw a white tag, only slightly visible against the counter shaded belly of the beast. What was visible though, was the grey camera just below the shark's mandible.

_A camera_? Annie's thoughts were interrupted by her lungs painfully reminding her that she needed _air_.

Annie swam desperately for the surface, disregarding any thoughts of the tag or the shark returning. Her face barely broke the surface when she coughed up water and rasped in the biggest breath of her life. She knew she had to swim for the boat and get to safety, but her legs weren't working. She was slowly sinking back into the ocean against her brain's screamed commands and the shouts of—a man's voice?

Annie felt her finger tips grazing the surface as she slipped back under the waves. It was _wrong_. The ocean wasn't red. But today it was.

* * *

"Annie!" Felipe shouted desperately. He abandoned the scuba gear and ran to the side of the boat closest to Annie. He could see Annie half dragging Glimmer by the life ring, only 50 yards from the boat. He wrenched off his life jacket and dove into the water, dimly aware of someone else diving in beside him. He had almost reached them when he raised his head to breathe—and saw Annie dragged under the surface of the waves.

Felipe's stomach felt like it had been slammed with a truck. And now he was torn. Did he go after Annie, his partner, like he wanted to? Or did he rescue Glimmer, who was crying and dangerously close to drowning? Felipe froze with indecision.

"Get Glimmer!" a voice answered to his left. Felipe's head snapped to see Finnick swimming past him. Felipe didn't reply. He just wrapped an arm around Glimmer and began pulling her back to the boat, trying to reassure her as best as he could. He had just reached the boat when he turned back to see Annie break the surface in a spray of ocean and blood. She was screaming and being wrenched through the water from side to side, until just as suddenly she was gone again in a cloud of red.

Felipe was going to be would remember that inhuman scream until the day he died. He dropped Glimmer unceremoniously to the deck, and jumped back in.

The ocean was a place Felipe called home, where he felt calm and at peace. But today, everything was wrong.

* * *

Finnick was a born athlete, but there was nothing he excelled quite as much at as swimming. He swam in the direction he thought the shark had taken, just in case that crazy spitfire was still alive in the beast's jaws.

Frankly, he didn't have high hopes. She had been under for what felt like hours, though in reality it must have only been a minute. Even so, she had to be losing a lot of blood.

Blood…

Suddenly, Annie burst through the surface to his right, sputtering water and simultaneously trying to breathe. The result was a horrific rasping, gargling sound, like water emptying down a drain. Finnick realised with revulsion that she was choking on a ghoulish mixture of the sea and her own blood. He turned and swam towards her struggling form, but he was too far. Finnick watched as she slipped back under the surface, gently this time. He took a gulp of air and dived beneath the surface. He couldn't see anything in the pinky waters. He groped blindly until his fingers touched something warm, and he locked on it. He had grabbed Annie's wrist. He swam back to the surface, pulling her with him. She coughed weakly and fluttered her eyelids.

"Hey there, Sparky, how you doing?" Finnick asked absently, scanning the horizon anxiously as he leaned into backstroke, pulling her to his chest.

Annie murmured something that he didn't hear. She was slipping in his grasp and her head lolled sideways.

"Annie, stay with me now," he said with alarm, swimming in the direction of the boat. "Tell me what your thesis is about."

"Study the hormones," she murmured, "Model… cycle… assisted breeding…"

"That's great!" Finnick puffed, even though he had no idea what she had just said. He was putting all of his energy into swimming for that boat as fast as he could.

His—no—_their _lives depended on it.

He could feel warm water pulsing over his arm.

_Not water_, he realised with a sickeningly feeling in the pit of his stomach, _her blood. _He tightened his arm around her, fingers brushing against—was that flesh?! Finnick tasted the bile rising in his mouth and swallowed it down forcefully.

_Don__'__t think about it, _he urged himself. _Don__'__t look-_

-He looked. Finnick gagged at the site of denuded bone and raggedy strips of skin on Annie's ribs. He switched to side stroke so he wouldn't have to watch Annie's life draining out over his fingers. Or feel it.

Suddenly, Annie's eyes widened and she screamed, "SHIT! Increase your rate of swim!" She tried unsuccessfully to kick and settled for frantically paddling with her free hand.

Finnick craned his head back and his blood ran cold. On the horizon he could see a grey fin, slicing effortlessly through the waves.

Coming straight for him and Annie.

Adrenaline surged through his veins and he powered through the water. Finnick could hear his blood pounding in his ears, but his only thought was of reaching the safety of the boat. He had never swum this fast in his entire life.

But he wasn't swimming fast enough.

He could barely hear the screams of the people on the boat urging him to swim faster over the pounding of his blood in his ears. The shark had to be gaining on him, but he didn't dare look back—it would only slow him down. Annie's ear splitting scream confirmed it only seconds later.

Any second now, the shark would catch him.

Any second now, he would feel searing pain in his legs as the teeth shredded his carefully toned muscles.

Any second now…

His fingers slapped the cold metal of the ladder and he was instantly lifted into the air by four sets of hands. He and Annie were dragged over the edge and Finnick craned his head back just in time to see a large, grey fin disappear under the boat.

Suppressing a shudder, Finnick gently laid Annie down on the deck. Bandit bounded past him to whine and nose Annie's hand as the crew gathered around her. Finnick fell back onto his haunches, panting hard, and put his face in his hands. His hands didn't smell like soothing seawater—they were sticky, and smelt coppery. He pulled them away from his face and Finnick's green eyes widened—they were red. His hands were covered in blood. There was blood on his face and all over the deck. He scooted his feet back from the crimson waterline and shuffled backwards with alarm. There was so much blood. Too much blood. Everything was red. Everything was-

-Finnick felt Mags' hand on his shoulder.

"Breathe," she said quietly, "We need you." Finnick nodded shakily and took a few deep breaths as he nervously looked around at the crew.

No one was paying attention to Finnick. Felipe had launched into first aid with the air of a trained professional that belayed the anxiety he felt. He had treated shark attacks before. Only this time it wasn't an injured seal—it was his diving partner and best friend.

"I need to roll her into recovery," Felipe said calmly, belaying the true anxiety he felt for his partner. Expertly, he gently moved Annie onto her side and Annie shrieked with agony. Bandit barked in alarm, and someone none too gently pulled him back despite Annie reaching for him.

"My god… I can see her ribs," Cressida whispered, her face drained of colour. Annie dazedly looked at the warm pool of red around her and was vaguely aware of a series of gasps. When the shark had scraped her side, it had taken shreds of her flesh with it.

Someone retched to Annie's right.

"Mahogany…" Effie protested weakly, but was ignored.

Bandit nosed her shoulder and someone pulled him away. _No_, Annie thought, _he just wants to help_. _I need him_.

"You can see my ribs too," someone sniffed irritably.

"Shut the hell up, Glimmer!" _Was that Finnick? _

"Thoracic vitals intact," Felipe announced, as though that meant something to the crew.

"Good!" Effie squeaked, nodding enthusiastically.

Annie was aware of someone kneeling beside her head—Mags. She gently stroked Annie's hair and murmured soothingly to her, like Annie's mother used to when Annie was small. Annie felt better, somehow. Felipe was barking instructions as he pulled a first aid bag from the nearby cupboard and snapped on blue latex gloves.

_Blue_, Annie thought, _like the ocean should be_.

"We need to keep pressure here and here," Felipe was saying, demonstrating with gauze. "And I need someone to open this and pump it up," He added, pointing to a black bag. Two of the sound technicians quickly complied. Mags squeezed Annie's hand reassuringly as a wave of pain and nausea rolled over her.

"She's clammy," Mags said, alarm ringing in her voice. "And her pulse is really fast!"

"She's in shock," Felipe replied, "Keep her warm and secure."

Finnick shook himself, leapt up off the deck and grabbed a few of the Capitol City Resort monogrammed towels and draped them over Annie's shivering form. The expensive, snow white Egyptian cotton instantly turned pink. Annie imagined the face of the stern resort laundress and chuckled a little.

"She's delirious," Cressida gasped.

"Here, use my jacket as a pillow," Arriane suggested.

"No!" Mags and Felipe said sharply in unison.

"Keep her feet higher than her head. She's lost a lot of blood," Felipe continued. Arriane nodded meekly and she and another girl folded the jacket and placed it under Annie's feet.

By now, Felipe had wrapped Annie's side with gauze and had moved onto her leg. Castor was applying pressure to Annie's ribs while Pollux looked on, ashen but still holding a camera.

"Felipe… camera… shark…" Annie groaned weakly.

"For god's sake, turn that off," Finnick snapped, whirling around angrily. Pollux meekly complied and shrank back.

"No… no… camera… on the shark…" Annie tried again with increasing agitation.

"Shhh now," Mags soothed. "The camera's off."

Annie shook her head, feeling too overwhelmed to try again.

"You can fix her, right?" Cressida asked anxiously, wringing her hands in front of her.

"No. I can't." Felipe replied shortly as he cut away the shredded remains of Annie's wet suit leg.

"Then we have to get her back to the resort," Effie squeaked, "They have the best medical staff there. It will be fine!" The crew all chorused in agreement, the atmosphere tangibly lightening.

"She's wouldn't even make it halfway back," Felipe snapped.

The crew gasped again and Arriane burst into tears. Annie felt very left out of the entire conversation and tried to protest, only to whimper with pain as she tried to lift her arm.

"Stay still, chica." Felipe said far more gently. "Finnick, hold the radio for me,"

"Capitol City Coast Guard this is CCRV70, repeat CCRV70 over," Felipe said calmly into the proffered radio, despite the fact he was pressing gauze into the torn flesh of Annie's leg to staunch the bleeding.

"We read you CCR70, over," the radio crackled.

"Request immediate med-evac of young female suffering haemorraghic shock. Massive lacerations to thoracic region and left lower limb, over."

"Request approved. How were lacerations obtained, over?"

Felipe paused and bit his lip, "Shark attack, over."

There was an unnerving silence on the other end of the radio for what felt like minutes but was in reality, only a few seconds.

"Helicopter deployed," the radio crackled at last, "What are your co-ordinates, over?"

The crew sighed with relief as Felipe rattled off a series of longitudes and latitudes that were received by the chopper. "And her blood type is A negative, over," He added.

"Roger that, blood bag in the bird. Over and out." The radio replied.

Their relief was short lived when Felipe looked up from Annie's leg with wide eyes, his olive face pale.

"I can't find it," he whispered.

"What? Can't find what?" Finnick shouted.

"Her artery. Her popliteal artery has been severed and I can't find it to stop the bleeding." Felipe looked like he was about to burst into tears. He sat back and mopped his sweating forehead with the back of his glove, unknowingly leaving a red smear in its wake. Finnick's face turned a shade of green that matched his eyes.

"What does that mean?" Effie asked anxiously.

"It means," Felipe lowered his voice so Annie wouldn't hear, "She's going to bleed out within a few minutes. I'm surprised she lasted this long."

"Felipe, it's okay," Annie croaked. She'd done biomedical science before marine science and she knew exactly what the popliteal artery was. Bandit whimpered and someone allowed him to lie beside Annie.

"Shhh now," Mags said tenderly, "You just keep on looking at old Mags and everything will be fine." Annie smiled weakly at Mags and Bandit but she could Finnick and Felipe arguing.

"You're a doctor! Fix her!" Finnick shouted.

"I'm a marine veterinarian!" Felipe shouted back, "I'd have better luck fixing the shark than Annie!"

Annie was tiring of their shouting. Actually, she was just tiring. Her eyelids were becoming heavier… and heavier…

"No, Annie!" Mags said urgently, "Stay with me!"

"Please, find it!" Effie wailed through tears, as her thick mascara ran down her face in green rivers.

"I could make it worse," Felipe whispered, frozen with indecision. "It's deep inside her knee joint and it's shot up somewhere inside her thigh…"

"Promise you'll look after Bandit?"Annie asked quietly. A hush fell over the crowd and Effie and Cressida clapped their hands over their mouths.

"Annie, no," Felipe said tearfully.

"Promise!" She said forcefully, and coughed for her efforts. "You're no good with decisions anyway. You need your skipper."

"I promise to take care of the Bandido," Felipe whispered.

Annie merely smiled, and ran her fingers weakly along Bandit's matted fur. A wet splash landed on Annie's hand—Mags' tear.

"You have to try," Finnick urged desperately, "She's dying." There was murmured assent from the crew, most of whom also had tears running down their faces. Felipe took one last look at Annie's ashen face, audibly swallowed and nodded.

"Finnick, I need you to hold this part of her calf together," Felipe announced.

"Me?" Finnick gulped, eyeing the bloody wound nervously. Felipe nodded and placed the gauze in Finnick's hands. Finnick bit his lip and pressed it into Annie's leg, trying to keep his eyes on Mag's and ignoring the warm, sticky wetness.

Satisfied, Felipe plunged his hand back inside the wound.

Electric needles ran up Annie's leg and into her core. She screamed and tried to writhe in agony, only to be held down by unseen hands.

"Annie, hold still!" Finnick urged shakily.

"It's alright, lass! It'll be okay!" Castor agreed, though he too sounded anxious.

"Hang in there Annie," Mags said softly. Bandit snarled and turned towards Felipe, hackles raised.

"It's okay, Bandit. Here boy," Annie called with gritted teeth. Bandit padded back whimpering and nosed her hand.

Annie scrunched her eyes shut and bit down until she tasted blood. She thought she had known pain with the shark, but each movement of Felipe's hand seemed to cut Annie's leg open with a white hot knife. She howled as she discovered new and exquisite forms of agony as Felipe pushed a pair of forceps in with his other hand, and pulled something out triumphantly—a gleaming white razor edged shard. A fragment of one of the shark's teeth.

Felipe cocked his head and looked at the tooth, before frowning at Annie and slipping the tooth in his pocket. Before Annie could ask what that look meant, his hands were back inside the bite.

Now she truly knew pain, and it was limitless.

"I've got it!" He cried, "I've found it!" Deep inside Annie's thigh, Felipe pinched the artery shut and held it closed with his fingers. The crew cheered with joy and Annie thought people hugged. It was hard to tell, her vision was blurring and getting dark.

"Good boy, Bandit," she murmured and closed her fingers around one paw. "Good dog."

"Bag's ready," the technicians announced hopefully and Felipe sighed with relief. He quickly zipped her in the black bag, gently extricating her fingers from Bandit's fur, to which Bandit replied with a snarl.

"It's a shock bag," he explained, "It will keep her warm and under enough pressure that she has a chance to make it back to the hospital before bleeding out." The crew marvelled at the sleeping bag looking object and praised Felipe's hard work.

"It's warm... I can feel the water moving around me," Annie said softly, her eyelids fluttering weakly.

"Annie?" Mags asked with alarm.

Annie's vision darkened, and the last thing she saw was Glimmer and Selena's faces distorting alarmingly. Glimmer's expression was one of pure, unconcealed loathing while Selena's was far more chilling: one of a predator regarding its prey.

Chills ran down Annie's spine as she fully descended into blackness.

Bandit howled.

* * *

Several kilometres away, a man stroked his elegantly shaped beard thoughtfully as he watched a series of giant screens. They cast an eerie blue light over the otherwise dark room, illuminating his sharply contoured face and his expensive suit.

"Dr Crane?" A tremulous voice to his right interrupted his thoughts. "I… I can't regain contact with—"

"Did she see it?" He asked coldly without looking away from the screen.

The man swallowed and adjusted his glasses on his thin nose, one hand nervously clicking a pen in his lab coat pocket. "I can't be sure from the footage…"

Seneca Crane's eyes narrowed as he turned towards the scientist, if there was one sound that he abhorred above anything else on this earth, it was that incessant clicking. "That shark swam right over her head. The shark that you supposedly had under control." With every word he took a menacing step towards the man in the lab coat, forcing the man to lean backwards. "So I'm asking you, Dr Auchenius, did she see anything that ties to us?"

Dr Auchenius cleared his throat slightly, "It's possible…but highly unlikely. Besides she probably died from massive blood loss."

"Probably?" Seneca repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, I believe we can say with reasonable confidence that no damage was done."

"Reasonable confidence is not acceptable, Doctor," Seneca replied, "My employer deals only in absolutes, and he is rather less… _forgiving_ than I am."

Dr Auchenius swallowed again, and the clicking increased to the clicking of a cicada in summer. "Then we will make certain. What are your orders, sir?"

"Tie up the loose ends."

"But how?" Dr Auchenius protested. "That specimen represents millions of dollars of research—"

"—Do you really believe it's worth a cent if you can't control it? You have a genius IQ doctor, try using it." Seneca sneered as he turned back to the screen. "Deal with the shark."

Dr Auchenius' face turned a mottled purple colour with rage. He was not used to his intelligence being insulted, nor his work belittled, but he fought to keep his voice steady and calm when he replied. After all, his life depended on it.

"And the girl? Even if she somehow survived how are we going to find her?"

"Do you really think that there are so many shark attacks in this area that we couldn't find her at the hospital? I'm beginning to regret hiring you, doctor. You aren't nearly as bright as they said you were."

Dr Auchenius clenched and unclenched his fist inside his coat pocket, and a purple vein throbbed alarmingly against the pale white of his forehead.

"Besides, we don't need to look. I know who she is." With that, Seneca Crane picked up his suit jacket and whirled out of the room with a flounce.

Dr Auchenius glared at his form as he disappeared and then padded over to a keypad. He rapidly typed in a series of commands and then followed Crane out the main doors.

Fifty kilometres away, a red light blinked with increasing frequency until it glowed continuously for a full three seconds. The explosive detonated with little more ceremony than a wet splattering sound and a few chips of bone spraying outwards. The four metre long tiger shark gracefully sank to the ocean floor in direct contrast to the plume of gore that trailed from the softball sized hole in its head.


End file.
